Drake Maye Looks Dazed And Confused Out There

Progress in the NFL is not linear, past success doesn't guarantee future success, regression to the mean is normal and expected—all of the cliches in the world can't possibly rationalize whatever the hell is happening to Drake Maye and the New England Patriots so far this season. Currently sitting at 1-2 after Jacksonville laid down a 35-6 "old-fashioned ass whooping," as Pats safety Kevin Byard III put it, New England is finding life after a division title and a shock Super Bowl run to be, somehow, even harder and more dispiriting that it seemed on paper. Some fall-off was to be expected after a season in which the Pats had the easiest schedule of the century, but what's become of Drake Maye, who looked like a perennial MVP candidate last season, is downright shocking.

Maye has been absolute ass so far this season. The stats are bad enough—585 yards, one touchdown, a league-leading six interceptions, two fumbles, a QBR of 45.9—to set off the alarms, but Maye is failing the eye test even harder than that. After looking poised both in the pocket and moving the ball with his feet last season, Maye looks jittery and unsure of his throws so far in 2026, leading to mistakes so jarringly poor that it's becoming easier to write off last year as a fluke than it is to give him grace for a tough schedule and some key injuries.

A.J. Brown going down for multiple weeks with an ankle injury in the season opener hasn't helped, and Maye didn't force the front office to give Romeo Doubs $17 million a year to fail to get open on almost every play. Meanwhile, the run game, already not a particular strength last season, has been atrocious this time around, with Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon "Just Asking Questions" Henderson combining for 72 yards a game on 3.9 yards per carry.

Even as a Pats fan, though, I'm loathe to cling to such excuses for Maye. The third-year man has hit some form of wall—mental, physical, or both—and he's paying for poor choices and inexcusable ball security with pain and blood. Speaking of blood: The worst play of Maye's season was this fumble towards the end of the first quarter against the Jags.

That's Maye trying to find Kyle Williams deep after play-action, only to have the ball slip out of his hands for seemingly no reason at all. It's mystifying to watch, as he wasn't even pressured all that much and certainly was not touched. It was only after the game when speaking to the press that Maye clarified what happened there: "[Center] Jared [Wilson] happened to be bleeding on his hand. Got the football and was trying to put one to Kyle, and [the ball] slipped out of my hand."

Boston radio guy Alex Barth did some photo investigating after the game, and I agree with his conclusion that the ball did appear to have some blood on it, but if that truly was the case, Maye has to notice the feel of it and not try to throw the ball anyway. At the time of the fumble, the game was still 0-0, and the Pats' defense had forced two straight three-and-outs to start. With the momentum from a turnover, Jacksonville scored on the ensuing drive and never looked back.

Just for the record, the other contender for worst play of Maye's season came at the end of the first half and was unequivocally more harmful, even if it didn't look quite as silly. With the Pats down 14-3, Maye drove New England down the field on a nice-looking 10-play, 70-yard drive. They got all the way down to the two-yard-line with a minute left to go in the second quarter. While a touchdown here would have been ideal, the Pats simply had to get some form of points to go into the half on a high, and so Maye's main responsibility on third-and-goal should have been to avoid a turnover at all costs. However, just like in the season opener, Maye made a mistake he didn't need to make, and tried to squeeze a floater in to Efton Chism III at the back of the end zone, only for Travis Hunter to get his first NFL interception, and an easy one at that:

Maye would go on to add another pick at the end of the third quarter, which was returned to the five, and Jacksonville's ensuing touchdown sealed the game at 28-3.

That was Maye's seventh straight bad game dating back to last season's playoffs. Across those seven games he has thrown for seven touchdowns and turned the ball over 15 times. On Sunday, he was more or less the reason the Pats lost, even if his offense's firepower has been dulled by injury and scheme. It's probably not ideal that Mack Hollins is the only Pats receiver who looks like he gives a shit right now.

Will Brown's return (in two or three or how many ever weeks) improve things? Will the schedule's eventual turn from brutal to merely difficult help matters? All things are possible under God and football, but Maye needs more than prayers to improve on such a terrible start to his season. Maye looked so assured slinging the ball better than anyone down the field last season, but now he looks like he has no belief in his ability to connect on anything past five yards. I can't even blame him for that lack of belief, because the results have been so poor; through three games, he's putting only 61 percent of his passes on target to his receivers, compared to 79 last season. Maye's accuracy has gotten worse and his decision-making has gone down with it, which is how you get a three-turnover game, a 29-point beating, and a whole lot of doubt over what the Pats can do to fix this mess.